Inside The Live Wholly Tour

This summer my fellow Pony Tara and I have been on the road and in the air with Wholly Guacamole for the Live Wholly Tour across the U.S. in search of up-and-coming musicians at open-mic nights. We’ve been to Nashville and Chicago, and will be heading to New Orleans, our hometown of Minneapolis, and Los Angeles.

Throughout the tour, we’ve gotten to see some awesome cities and meet some wonderful people. I was also able to check off a bucket-list item – not only visiting the Bluebird Café in Nashville, but hosting an event there. For the past few years, I’ve been fascinated with Nashville. It’s one of those cities where you feel alive, forgetting sleep is a real thing and living off the energy of the people around you. I love the atmosphere, the history, the people, the food – and mostly, the music.

Visiting the Bluebird Café isn’t what you expect. If any of you watch the show Nashville, you’re duped to think it feels like this intimate little dive bar (which it is) – but what you don’t see is that it’s not in the middle of a downtown area, and it’s actually in the middle of a strip mall.

The authenticity and history of the venue is fascinating. For the past 33 years, many country legends have begun their careers here, from Garth Brooks to Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and so many more. Every day, hundreds of people line up outside in hopes there will be a few seats left in the house for the evening’s show. For those who don’t get it, well — they stand outside of the window and listen.

Throughout the evening we listened to 25 talented artists – some as young as 11 years old. I’m continually blown away by all of the talent in the city, and how hard they continue to work to pursue their passion. Ultimately we, along with a panel of judges with a variety of backgrounds within the music industry, chose one winner – Brad Blackburn.

Stay tuned this summer for the rest of our journey across America by following #LiveWhollyTour.